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Army Soldiers carrying concealed firearms

cloudcroft

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 13, 2007
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1,908
Location
El Paso, TX (formerly Colorado Springs, CO)
"Carrying of concealed firearms may represent a significant risk to the safety and welfare of Soldiers in this command." -- THOMAS J. ROTH, COL, EN, Commanding

I'd say that the OPEN carrying of firearms by soldiers could be pretty "risky" also...TO THE ENEMY! ;-)

Really though, if you can trust soldiers with small arms & heavy weapons during combat, you SHOULD be able to trust them at home in peacetime, even if OCing their personal arms ON BASE (presently illegal), let alone OFF base on their own time and business.

Seems that both soldiers and civilians alike are treated as criminals (potential or actual) right up front -- before proving otherwise. I think the concept "innocent until proven guilty" should still apply in America. Silly me...
 
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DWCook

Activist Member
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Sep 28, 2010
Messages
432
Location
Lenexa, Kansas
I agree, if the government has trusted this troop to carry a deadly weapon into battle and be responsible, how come they cant during peace time? I will have to say most military members have more experience with firearms and what they are capable of than most civilians. The old conflict I enjoy hearing is this one, I have taken more classes of shooting than your standard training in the military. No matter how much training you do to better yourself, it does not prepare you for when you have to defend yourself and the emotional state it brings. There is a difference between knowing how to use a firearm, and actually knowing the results of using it. Not bashing anyone here who isn't military or was never military, but I have to put out that the you will not gain the actual feeling of using a firearm until you have actually had to use it to defend yourself or family.

All I'm saying is you can have all the training you can get your hands on, but it does not prepare you for when you have to use this training against another person. You can have all the range time and practice you want, but are you willing to shoot someone in self defense and live with it is the question. We can all say yes to that question, but can you live with it is the question.

This was by means not to offend anyone here, this is just how I feel about this particular topic.

I understand some of my points here are a bit off topic and I apologize for that, but I just had to speak out on this one.
 
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Sonora Rebel

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Aug 6, 2008
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Gone
It's a Brigade CO playing CYOA. He's prob'ly an anti-gun type... only associating guns with uniformed duties. If he had his act together he'd know AK is an open or concealed carry state... w/o permits. If he was really up to snuff he'd have that co-authored by the area JAG adjutant. Nobody's gonna carry openly in uniform (uniform regs apply) or on the installations (Army regs apply), but in civvies... it's the same for military as civilians.
 

MAC702

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
6,332
Location
Nevada
... Nobody's gonna carry openly in uniform (uniform regs apply)...

Isn't there an appropriate holster for the uniform, like the Bianchi?

bia26_8_s.jpg
10458_BIANCHI_M1425_TACTICAL_HIP_EXTENDERS.jpg
 

josh84ak

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Joined
May 15, 2012
Messages
1
Location
Alabama
It's about time. I was stationed there when the CG (at the time) prohibited off-installation concealed carry for active duty Soldiers. Yes that's right.. we couldn't carry concealed at all regardless of Alaska law and could be punished under the UCMJ if found violating it. I didn't expect it to last this long but it's nice to know this policy is finally revoked. Hopefully I can get stationed back there, sure do miss it!
 

VinnAY

Regular Member
Joined
May 17, 2012
Messages
24
Location
Platte City, MO
Any of us Vet's knows about gun registration at the PMO/Security Forces, storage in the armory, ban of CCW on base...the military does more to subvert your rights than any one single entity in this country.
 

MAC702

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Jul 31, 2011
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Nevada
...the military does more to subvert your rights than any one single entity in this country.

Not technically. You VOLUNTEER to become US Government property, and you actually sign away many of your "rights" when you do so.

Drafted individuals had more civil rights while in the service than did volunteers, from what I was told.
 

armaborealis

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2011
Messages
56
Location
Alaska
I was always kind of hoping a soldier would show up to some unit social function (off base of course) open carrying. The CG's policy never said anything about open carry, after all!

The only reason that USARAK changed the policy was because congress prohibited the DoD from implementing such policies during the NDAA last year. Don't think for a moment that the Army had a change of heart...
 

DWCook

Activist Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2010
Messages
432
Location
Lenexa, Kansas
Late response, but this is good that troops are allowed to do this. I honestly never knew for a long time that troops off base weren't allowed to conceal carry even though it is legal by the state. I am a prior Air Force active duty member and wish I could have been stationed at the Anchorage Air Base, but never got the chance. But honestly I am glad I didn't at that point in time considering I wouldn't be able to conceal. I would open carry without any problems.
 
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Cavalryman

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jun 6, 2010
Messages
296
Location
Anchorage, Alaska
COL Roth is not anti-gun but as the commander, he does have to deal with the fallout from the occasional bonehead Soldier who can't act responsibly. Yes, it's CYA but after all it's his A. All he did was require that commanders point out to the Soldiers what the law is and what their responsibilities and liabilities are under the law. In practice, it hasn't discouraged anyone from carrying. In fact, a few Soldiers who didn't know they could carry have begun to do so.
 

BigHPacking

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Joined
Jul 20, 2012
Messages
4
Location
Falcon, Colorado
It's about time. I was stationed there when the CG (at the time) prohibited off-installation concealed carry for active duty Soldiers. Yes that's right.. we couldn't carry concealed at all regardless of Alaska law and could be punished under the UCMJ if found violating it. I didn't expect it to last this long but it's nice to know this policy is finally revoked. Hopefully I can get stationed back there, sure do miss it!

Hey, I was there then as well in 4/25 ABN, 725 BSB. I still carried concealed. If it's truly concealed, nobody sees it to know otherwise.
 

Mangel

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Joined
Mar 30, 2013
Messages
3
Location
Illinois
Not technically. You VOLUNTEER to become US Government property, and you actually sign away many of your "rights" when you do so.

Drafted individuals had more civil rights while in the service than did volunteers, from what I was told.

Please enlighten me on where I can find that I have signed my rights away when joining the military. I can't find it in the Oath of Enlistment or UCMJ. I am in the military and I have rights.
 

davidmcbeth

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Jan 14, 2012
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earth's crust
Not technically. You VOLUNTEER to become US Government property, and you actually sign away many of your "rights" when you do so.

Drafted individuals had more civil rights while in the service than did volunteers, from what I was told.

+1 ... I love soldiers complaining ... hahahaha suckers .... (from a vet who could never carry on base)
 

MAC702

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Jul 31, 2011
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Nevada
Please enlighten me on where I can find that I have signed my rights away when joining the military. I can't find it in the Oath of Enlistment or UCMJ. I am in the military and I have rights.

I see you are from Illinois. Perhaps you are unaware of the rights most people outside of your state enjoy. It may be hard for you to see the difference.

Please note that I did not say it was necessarily bad for soldiers to waive some of these rights. But the fact that you have done so should not be in dispute.
 

Mangel

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Mar 30, 2013
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Illinois
I see you are from Illinois. Perhaps you are unaware of the rights most people outside of your state enjoy. It may be hard for you to see the difference.

Please note that I did not say it was necessarily bad for soldiers to waive some of these rights. But the fact that you have done so should not be in dispute.

Not from Illinois, but stationed in Illinois. Actually I am in Georgia at the moment where I am enjoying carrying anywhere a LEO can carry. Perhaps you missed the great news for IL last year. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...11_1_court-strikes-appeals-court-david-sigale If lawmakers can't come up with something by June, we will have Constitutional Carry in IL.
 
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MAC702

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Jul 31, 2011
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Nevada
Not from Illinois, but stationed in Illinois. Perhaps you missed the great news for IL last year. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...11_1_court-strikes-appeals-court-david-sigale If lawmakers can't come up with something by June, we will have Constitutional Carry in IL.

Actually, I've been hearing about that. This may be very interesting to watch, because the politicians may be in such disagreement on how to avoid it that they'll get it because of their inaction!

I hope it happens because it will be especially interesting to see how the police act when they encounter it, though I have a feeling the brave souls who dare to exercise their rights first may pay a long price before they are vindicated.
 
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MagiK_SacK

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Jan 13, 2012
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257
Location
VA Beach, VA
Please enlighten me on where I can find that I have signed my rights away when joining the military. I can't find it in the Oath of Enlistment or UCMJ. I am in the military and I have rights.

+1

Mangel is right. What rights have we signed away? If you refer to not being able to carry on base, or random locker/barracks inspections, or random vehicle inspections at the gate, you are highly mistaken. We didn't sign those rights away. It is no different than and requirements your private employer might require. How many people on this forum have jobs that are not in security that are able to carry at work? I am willing to bet not very many. If you want to argue parking lot rules, you have to realize this is federal property we are talking about and not being allowed to bring a firearm on base applies to everybody not just military personnel. So that is one right that I didn't "sign" away. The same can be said for the other few examples I gave. Not that it is anything I agree with but it's a condition of taking the job. That goes for military, DOD employees, civilian contractors, ect. Off base I have the same rights that any other person has. So I second the question, where can I find that I have signed my rights away?
 

MAC702

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
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Location
Nevada
... It is no different than and requirements your private employer might require...

Actually, that's an excellent analogy. Many people have signed away some rights for their employer even if only for a specified period of time. I really don't want this to turn into another argument about words.

I was in the military. While in, there were certain things I was not allowed to do! I signed up for that. I didn't think someone would have an issue with my phrasing, so perhaps that is the only issue?
 
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